[cc-community] Orlowski vs. liblicense
Gavin Baker
gavin+cc at gavinbaker.com
Mon Aug 27 10:50:51 EDT 2007
On Aug 23, 2007, at 4:46 AM, Giorgos Cheliotis wrote:
>> Musicians make money from live performances, and selling tour
>> paraphernalia, Albums generate an insignificant income.
>
> Is there any serious proof or at least substantial evidence for this?
In addition to the links already provided, see this often-cited commentary
by musician Courtney Love:
http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2000/06/14/love/
For more information on this issue (at least from a U.S. perspective), a
good organization to ask is the Future of Music Coalition:
http://futureofmusic.org/
As was previously mentioned, I think the question of "where does a
professional performing musician's income come from?" probably depends a
lot on the genre, potentially on the country, and on the individual
musician's circumstances (what business opportunities does s/he pursue,
what are the terms of the contract s/he happened to sign, etc.).
In addition, as was alluded to with visual artists, the performing
musician may have other "careers" that supplement his/her income. For just
a few examples, a performer may also be: a composer, a producer for other
musicians, a session musician for other musicians, a recording engineer,
the proprietor of a recording label, the proprietor of a music publishing
house, the proprietor of a recording studio, etc. Some musicians are also
hosts of radio shows or TV shows, authors of books or collections of
lyrics or poetry, music consultants for TV shows or films or advertising,
music educators. Outside music, some performers leverage their popularity
into speaking engagements, acting, film directing, advertising endorsement
deals, etc.; and of course, many musicians (even ones who have attained
significant success in the music industry) maintain completely separate
careers from the music world.
My suspicion is that almost all professional musicians also derive a
significant percentage of their income from at least one of these sources.
Depending on the individual's particular circumstances and perspective,
this may make the risk of losing revenue from the performing career
(record sales, performance royalties, merchandise sales, etc.) either more
frightening or less.
(Note: IANAM.)
--
Gavin Baker
http://www.gavinbaker.com/
gavin at gavinbaker.com
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